Inking-pad.



No. 738,550. PATBNTED $31 13, 1903.

J. B. LAUGHTON.

INKING PAD.

APPLICATION FILED D120. 10, 1902.

- N0 MODEL;

UNITED STATES Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

lNKlNG-PAD.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,550, datedSeptember 8, 1903.

Application filed December 10, 1902. Serial No. 184,646. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH B. LAUGHTON,

a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Westfield,in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Inking-Pads, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in inking-pads, and has for oneof its objects to provide a pad which, by reason of its construction andarrangement of the parts composing it, will impart a most uniform,thorough, and even inking of a rubber or other stamp, and has foranother of its objects to provide a container for a pad which will servemost effectually as a guard whereby any ink which may spread marginallybeyond the pad proper will be without liability to smooch or soil thefingers of the person using the pad in its box or container either atthe time of handling the box or the cover thereof to open and close thelatter or otherwise.

The invention comprises a pad composed of a plurality of sections ofcompressible and absorbent material, which may advantageously be stripsof felt, and a plurality of sections of practically non-compressiblematerial, which latter may be absorbent in a greater or less degree ornon-absorbent and which latter sections may advantageously be strips ofwood, the absorbent compressible strips and the practicallynon-compressible strips having their upper surfaces approximatelyin thesame plane and having arrangements in alternation.

The invention furthermore comprises a pad composed of the alternatedstripsas above and a covering of absorbent material, such as cloth, forthe top thereof, said covering advantageously being carried around theopposite edges and under the bottom of the strips to constitute a bindertherefor; and the invention furthermore comprises the combination of aplurality of alternated strips of compressible absorbent material andthe practically non-compressible strips, with one or more layers ofabsorbent material, such as felt, on which the assembled and alternatedstrips aforementioned rest; and the invention furthermore consists in apad of any suitable construction or composition and a jtainer in whichthe present inventions are carried out is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view, thehinged cover for the pad-box being shown as open.

.Fig. 2 is alongitudiual vertical section of the same, the cover,however, being shown as closed, some of the alternated pad-constitutingsections being in this view shown as broken away or removed for thepurpose of more clearly illustrating the feature of constructioninvolved in the inturned downwardly-inclined serrated ledge for thepadbox. Fig. 3 is a perspective and sectional View to illustrate themake-up of the pad proper.

In the drawings, A represents the box or container to which the hingedcover E is provided, connected at and along the rear edge, and 0represents the pad. The pad, as shown,

'is made up of a plurality of strips a a of compressible absorbentmaterial, such as felt, and a relatively intermediate series ofstrips 1) of practically non-compressible material or a material havinga degree of compressibility less than that of the felt, such strips 3)being advantageously of wood.

The strips, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, are of equalheight, so that their upper and lower edges are flush, and they areinclosed within a thickness cl of textile fabric, such as cloth, mostcommonly used as the outer covering of inking-pads. This outer coveringoverlying the top extending around the opposite edges is also extendedunder the bottom and secured to make a binder, as well as a covering,for the pad proper. Beneath the pad is a thickness of felt f, which maybe supplied with a suitable quantity of ink distributed thereover andimpregnated therein in a suitably liquid condition, more or less of theink to be also supplied on the top of the pad. The ink-supplied layer offelt or other suitable absorbent material f, on which ICC the pad rests,serves as a replenisher for the pad,'the absorbent alternated strips offelt a a in the pad acting as conduits for the conveyance of the inkfrom the absorbent layer at the bottom, so that there will be asufficient quantity even after protracted use at the top of the pad, andthe upper layer of cloth, which overlies the upper surfaces of both theseries of strips a a and b 1), serves as a distributer, so that the padpresents an evenly-inked upper surface.

In practice the strips on a may be formed and arranged so as to havetheir upper surfaces extended slightly higher than the tops of the woodstrips, or the felt strips originally made and supplied may be of equaldimensions vertically with the wood strips and may become expanded bynatural agencies thereafter, and thereby have their upper surfacesprotrude above the tops of the strips b.

In inking a rubber or other stamp when the same is pressed against thepad the lattcr either is or under the pressure becomes level as resistedand limited by the practically non-compressible wooden strips whichimpose the satisfactory character of resistancethat is to say, ashereinbefore set forth the felt strips take up the ink to a greaterdegree than the wooden strips, and therefore become swollen andprojected above said wooden strips, wherefore when a stamp is pressedupon the pad the felt strips will become slightly flattened andlaterally extended and the wooden strips will be slightly separatedagainst the resistance of the textile covering, and when the stamp isremoved from the pad the felt strips will tend to resume their originalshape, augmented by the same tendency of the covering, and thereby thefelt portion of the pad cannot become flattened down, embedded, matted,or uneven after successive impacts of the stamp. This is one of theimportant advantages of the present invention and is what increases thelife of the pad and insures an effective and uniform inking of the stamptherefrom.

While the strips 5, made of wood or some other suitable material toaiford the character of resistance in the pad hereinabove referred to,are of slight compressibility or practically no compressibility, theyare not necessarily non -absorbent, and, in fact, on the other hand, areabsorbent in such degree as to themselves be containers of the ink andconstitute ink-imparting portions of the pad. The felt strips may beglued or otherwise sidewise secured to the wood strips.

The box or container is shown as consisting of a shallow tray or casemade of sheettin or other thin metal, upwardly open and having at itsfront and ends an inwardlyturned flange or ledge g, which has in itsinward extension a downward inclination, as particularly shown in Fig.2, and said so inturned and inclined ledge has its inner margin formedor provided with a series of grooves, notches, or serrations 1;. Any inkin a more or less liquid condition coming off from the pad onto theledge will have the tendency to gravitate inwardly back to the pad, inproximity to or contact with the edges of which pad the points of thefingers or members between the notches are extended. It will be observedthat the downwardly-inclined serrated flange g engages the edge of thepad below the top thereof'and holds it from contact with the uprightwalls of the box',forming a conduit around the edge of the pad beneaththe flanges, and as the excessink flows down the flanges through thenotches and into the conduit it is gradually absorbed by the layer offelt f and conveyed to the pad. Thus the serrated flanges serve the dualpurpose of holdingthe pad firmly in place and provides a means by whichthe excess ink may be reconveyed to the pad. The points of the saidfingers between the notches, as shown, actually engage the edges of thepad at the front and opposite ends and hold the pad firmly within thecase. The pad made with the alternated sections of the felt may becompressed between its opposite edges, so as to be placed and retainedin the case made as described undera degree of compression.

Where pads of the kind described or of any other suitable compositionare provided in a 7 box substantially such as described, having a coverat its rear edge hinged thereat, it is not desirable to have theinturned and serrated downwardly-inclined ledge provided to the rearportion of the box, at which the coveris connected; but such might beprovided, if desired.

While the box having the feature of construction comprising the topmarginal inclined and serrated ledge, as described, con stitutes adesirable holder for the pad of the specific and peculiar compositionset forth, the employment of this description of container is not to bein any way restricted to its combination with any particular compositionor construction of the pad proper, and under the terms of the inventionas hereinbefore contemplated and set forth there may be a considerablelatitude of modification or change in minor arrangements withoutdeparting from the essential characteristics of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial and sections of material having a less degree ofcompressibility alternated therewith.

2. An inking-padcomposed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, alternated with a plurality of sections of material having aless degree of compressibility, and a covering of textile material atthe top of said combined sections.

3. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, and sections of less compressible material alternatedtherewith, and means for holding the several sections together.

4. An inking-pad composed of strips of felt and strips of woodalternated therewith and means forholding the several strips together.

5. An inking-pad composed of a plurality of strips of felt, strips ofpractically non-compressible material alternated therewith, and athickness of textile fabric overlying the top and edges of the combinedstrips and secured, the same constituting an ink-distributing andbinding device for the pad.

6. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, and sections of less compressibility alternated therewith anda layer of absorbent material upon which the said several combinedsections rest.

7. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible material andsections of less compressibility alternated therewith, a textilecovering and binder, a thickness of felt on which the combined and boundsections rest, and a box in which the whole is contained.

8. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, and sections of material having a less degree ofcompressibility alternated therewith, all of the sections being disposedtransversely of the greater length of the pad.

9. A device of the class described, comprising a box, a pad within thebox and terminated short of the upright walls thereof to provide aconduit therearound, and means formed on the box for conveying excessink into said conduit.

10. A device of the character described, comprising a box, a pad Withinthe box and terminated short of the upright walls thereof,

and an internal marginal flange on the box, said flange being inclinedinwardly and. downwardly with its free edge serrated and engagin g themarginal edge of the pad below the top thereof, as and for the purposedescribed.

11. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, and sections of material having a less degree ofcompressibility alternated therewith,the members of both sectionsconstituting the inking-face of the pad.

12. An inking-pad composed of alternatelyarranged strips of wood andfelt extending from top to bottom of the pad and jointly forming theinking-face thereof.

13. An inking-pad composed of sections of compressible and absorbentmaterial, sections of material having a less degree of compressibilityalternated therewith, the mem bers of both sections constituting theinkingface of the pad, and a cover of textile material embracing themarginal edge of the pad and covering the top thereof.

14. An inking-pad composed of strips of Wood, strips of felt alternatedtherewith, all of the strips extending in the same direction from oneedge to the opposite edge of the pad and from the top to the bottomthereof to constitute an inking-face at opposite sides of the pad, and acover of textile material embracing the top, bottom and marginal edge ofthe composite pad.

Signed by me at Springfield, Massachusetts, in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH B. LAUGI-ITON. Witnesses:

A. V. LEAHY, WM. S. BELLoWs.

